The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It

Based on Stanford University psychologist Kelly McGonigal's wildly popular course The Science of Willpower,The Willpower Instinct is the first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity. Informed by the latest research and combining cutting-edge insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience, and medicine, The Willpower Instinct explains exactly what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters.

Ego Is the Enemy

"While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive visionary geniuses who remade the world in their images with sheer, almost irrational force, I've found that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition." (From the prologue)

TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking

Since taking over TED in the early 2000s, Chris Anderson has shown how carefully crafted short talks can be the key to unlocking empathy, stirring excitement, spreading knowledge, and promoting a shared dream. Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience's worldview. Done right, a talk is more powerful than anything in written form.

The Idiot Brain: A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head Is Really up To

Why do you lose arguments with people who know MUCH LESS than you? Why can you recognise that woman, from that thing...but can't remember her name? And why, after your last break-up, did you find yourself in the foetal position on the sofa for days, moving only to wipe the snot and tears haphazardly from your face? Here's why: the idiot brain. For something supposedly so brilliant and evolutionarily advanced, the human brain is pretty messy, fallible and disorganised.

If I Could Tell You Just One Thing: Encounters with Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice

Richard Reed built Innocent Drinks from a smoothie stall on a street corner to one of the biggest brands in Britain. He credits his success to four brilliant pieces of advice, each given to him just when he needed them most. Ever since, it has been Richard's habit, whenever he meets somebody he admires, to ask them for their best piece of advice. If they could tell him just one thing, what would it be? Richard has collected pearls of wisdom from some of the most remarkable, inspiring and game-changing people in the world.

God Is Disappointed in You

God Is Disappointed in You is for people who would like to read the Bible...if it would just cut to the chase. Stripped of its arcane language and interminable passages, every book of the Bible is condensed down to its core message, in no more than a few pages each. Written by Mark Russell with cartoons by New Yorker cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, God Is Disappointed in You is a frequently hilarious, often shocking, but always accurate retelling of the Bible, including the parts selectively left out by Sunday School teachers.

When it comes to health, there is one criminally overlooked element: sleep. Good sleep helps you shed fat for good, stave off disease, stay productive, and improve virtually every function of your mind and body. That's what Shawn Stevenson learned when a degenerative bone disease crushed his dream of becoming a professional athlete. Like many of us, he gave up on his health and his body...until he decided there must be a better way.

How to be a Productivity Ninja: Worry Less, Achieve More and Love What You Do

In the age of information overload, traditional time management techniques simply don't cut it when it comes to overflowing inboxes, ever-expanding to-do lists and endless pointless meetings. Thankfully there is a better way: the way of the productivity ninja. Using techniques including ruthlessness, mindfulness, Zenlike calm and stealth and camouflage, you will get your inbox down to zero, make the most of your attention, beat procrastination and learn to work smarter, not harder.

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

Tribes are groups of people aligned around an idea, connected to a leader and to each other. Tribes make our world work, and always have. The new opportunity is that it's easier than ever to find, organize, and lead a tribe. The Web has enabled an explosion of all kinds of tribes - and created shortage of people to lead them. This is the growth industry of our time. Tribes will help you understand exactly what's at stake, and why YOU can and should lead a tribe of your own.

The Art of Being Brilliant

A pep talk in your pocket, this short audiobook will fill you to the brim with happiness, positivity, wellbeing and, most importantly, success! Andy Cope and Andy Whittaker are experts in the art of happiness and positive psychology and The Art of Being Brilliant is crammed full of good advice, instructive case studies, inspiring quotes, some funny stuff and important questions to make you think about your work, relationships and life.

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

You Are a Badass is the self-help audiobook for people who desperately want to improve their lives but don't want to get busted doing it. In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, best-selling author and world-travelling success coach Jen Sincero serves up 27 bite-size chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviours that stop you from getting what you want.

Chaos Monkeys: Inside the Silicon Valley Money Machine

Computer engineers use 'chaos monkey' software to wreak havoc and test system robustness. Similarly, tech entrepreneurs like Antonio García Martínez are society's chaos monkeys - their innovations disrupt every aspect of our lives, from transportation (Uber) and holidays (Airbnb) to television (Netflix) and dating (Tinder) - all in search of the perfect business miracle. Describing himself as 'high strung, fast talking, and wired on a combination of caffeine, fear, and greed at all times', García Martínez left Wall Street to make his fortune in Silicon Valley.

Get Your Sh*t Together: How to stop worrying about what you should do so you can finish what you need to do and start doing what you want to do

From the author who brought you the best-selling book everyone is talking about, The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k: The no-f**ks-given, no-holds-barred guide to living your best life. Ever find yourself snowed under at the office - or even just glued to the sofa - when you really want to get out (for once), get to the gym (at last), and get started on that daunting dream project you're always putting off? Then it's time to get your sh*t together.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections

In 1957, four years before his death, Carl Gustav Jung, psychiatrist and psychologist, began writing his life story. But what started as an exercise in autobiography soon morphed into an altogether more profound undertaking.

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945

Almost a decade in the making, this much-anticipated grand history of postwar Europe from one of the world's most esteemed historians and intellectuals is a singular achievement. Postwar is the first modern history that covers all of Europe, both east and west, drawing on research in six languages to sweep readers through 34 nations and 60 years of political and cultural change-all in one integrated, enthralling narrative.

A Little History of Philosophy

Philosophy begins with questions about the nature of reality and how we should live. These were the concerns of Socrates, who spent his days in the ancient Athenian marketplace asking awkward questions, disconcerting the people he met by showing them how little they genuinely understood. This engaging book introduces the great thinkers in Western philosophy and explores their most compelling ideas about the world and how best to live in it.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

In 1982 Murakami began running to keep fit. Here he reflects on his running experiences. Equal parts travelogue, training log, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon. By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, this is a must-listen for fans of this masterful author and for the increasing number of people who find a similar satisfaction in running.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Here in a single volume is the entire, unabridged recording of Gibbon's masterpiece. Beginning in the second century A.D. at the apex of the Pax Romana, Gibbon traces the arc of decline and complete destruction through the centuries across Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a thrilling and cautionary tale of splendor and ruin, of faith and hubris, and of civilization and barbarism. Follow along as Christianity overcomes paganism... before itself coming under intense pressure from Islam.

What Would Beyoncé Do?!

You know when you find yourself approaching 30 and your dreams are broken? You've got a temping career going nowhere and a student debt that's mounting, and you've just had to move back into your mum's house. Then, to top it all off, you get absolutely annihilated with heartbreak because of an ex who is just 'not ready' but then manages to be ready, a week later, with someone else. And it is here, at your lowest point, that one of your best friends decides to remind you that you are the same age as Beyoncé. FML.

The Naked Trader: How Anyone Can Make Money Trading Shares - 4th Edition

The most entertaining book on how to trade shares is back! This is the book on stock market investing that you can actually enjoy, written in plain English, packed with real-life trading examples and full of candid advice that you just can't get anywhere else. It's the ideal friend for anyone who wants to make money in the markets.

The Origins of Totalitarianism

This classic, definitive account of totalitarianism traces the emergence of modern racism as an "ideological weapon for imperialism", beginning with the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe in the 19th century and continuing through the New Imperialism period from 1884 to World War I.

Welcome to the Universe is a personal guided tour of the cosmos by three of today's leading astrophysicists. Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all - from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders

Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.

Paradise Lost

In words remarkable for their richness of rhythm and imagery, Milton tells the story of man's creation, fall, and redemption, "to justify the ways of God to men". Here, unabridged, and told with exceptional sensitivity and power by Anton Lesser, is the plight of Adam and Eve, the ambition and vengefulness of Satan and his cohorts.

Publisher's Summary

For many of us, being ‘good’ isn’t really good enough. We want to make the very best we can out of our lives - to achieve all we can achieve and be the best we can be. We want to be Brilliant. This book will give you tools to find out what point you are at now, understand where it is you want to get, and develop strategies and powerful methods to get you there - as quickly as possible and as economically as possible with as much fun as possible.

The book uses many clear examples and stories to show you how to overcome barriers that hold you back. You’ll learn how to develop a clear vision for a brilliant future and communicate with your friends, family and colleagues at a higher level.

Brilliant is a new Standard! a cheerful listening, filled with quite a lot of personal stories, and all explanation about how he learn that lessons, nothing too new if you've heard other self help books, like it's all about action, will of life, be positive, time your goals...but it's somehow good to hear these again and again..help to rethink and keep up.

Which character – as performed by Michael Heppell – was your favourite?

Michael Heppell performed very well, in fact the good thing is that it does not sounds like he's performing, he's just sharing his experience and learning.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I found it inspiring and mood-enhancing. In my opinion everyone would benefit from listening to this as it really gives excellent insight into how you can make your life better by changing your habits and sticking to the new self. The narrator's voice is very pleasant to one's ear.

I love Michael Heppell's stuff. Applicable both to life and business, he is the chamois leather that clears your windscreen so you can see exactly where you're going and how to get there. If you think you know all you need to know about what it is you have to do, you probably don't until you've read Michael's book. My vision is so much clearer, my time so much better organised, my priorities make more sense and I'm more productive as a result of techniques I've learned from Michael. Especially great if you feel down, stuck in a rut, feeling certain that there was supposed to be more to life. There is! And "How to be brilliant" guides you down that path in a totally non-patronising way that is real and achievable. Love it.

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who is looking to improve their life in anyway (work,relationships,motivation). Uses great easy to carry out techniques that help you to achieve and happy and balanced life.

So much practical information given with great real life examples. This is a self-development book that is great for all kinds of goals and types of people. It's also good that the author has a website and tools to get you started once you have read the book.

I've read/listened to most of Michaels books and prefer a few of the others to this personally.I'll admit I listened to this book over about 10days so it was a bit scattered, so I'll schedule to listen to it again in a shorter block and hopefully get more from it.

Can't deny there's still some great, easy to use info- but was always it's about he doing not just listening and agreeing!